


Famous Last Words

by stephanericher



Category: Vampire Knight
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-18 07:04:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/876990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/pseuds/stephanericher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>originally published on fanfiction.net (7/19/12)</p>
<p>Music: "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance</p></blockquote>





	Famous Last Words

And it has come now to this.

He can see the anguish in his brother's eyes, hidden deep beneath the narcissim, the bloodlust, the anger and rage, the hatred, the resignation. Far below, there is still a flickering candle that refuses to go out. There is still anguish, anguish that stems from unconditional love.

Love will tear them apart and sew them together, once again, over and over.

He already should have died, long before he was born. He really is worthless, as a brother and as a man. Zero should have devoured him before he possessed any semblance of conscious thought. That would have made everything so much easier and enabled them (well, Zero) to take a normal path (if there is such a thing for the child of vampire hunters), but instead he is here. Ichiru is still here, now, tonight, dim light reflecting into his shining eyes and shining fangs.

He looks at his unblemished, white palms. He could do nothing, has done nothing with them. What is the purpose of this shell of a body if it is unusable? If it is wracked with tremors whenever he moves a certain way? If it shoves him around and defeats his soul?

Yes, it has come now to this. Time to finish what Zero never started, what could finally save him.

Zero knows. He knows exactly what is going to happen, what he must now do. The inevitability, which had sunk into Ichiru long before, is bringing him to his knees. He shudders, and it is like Ichiru is looking into a warped mirror in which he is healthy and his brother is extremely weak and sick. A bit...what's the word? Ironic? No, that's not quite right. Now is when Ichiru feels the best, even though his body is at its worst. He cannot remember ever feeling better. He sees the grim world around him with a clarity not present with the usual haze of his sickness.

What will it be like? Is there an other side? Will he be allowed to go there?

He would be dying for Zero's sins. Or Shizuka's. Or both. Would that grant both of them redemption?

Would it give Zero peace of mind? No, not now. But nothing would. And perhaps far down the road (could Zero survive that long?) it could grant him something like that. And now...now, to survive that far he needed Ichiru's sacrifice. Would this be gambling on the lottery? Russian roulette where the magazine is almost filled with bullets? The stars wink and torture him. His mother always told him he'd become a star when he died. His parents are not up there, now. They lied.

His eyes meet Zero's once again. And slowly, hesitantly, he steps toward him. His mirror image, now as troubled by the abyss of sickness as he, does the same. Zero's hair is a little longer, more unkempt. His eyes are red with tiredness and lust (how could they be combined?) but sturdy and steady, holding Ichiru's gaze. Step follows step. Closer, closer, perfectly, inch by inch.

Their hands touch. First their fingertips, then their palms. Identical, still. One less scarred and calloused, more illuminated in the darkness. They glow like they're under a spotlight, like they are the only important ones in this world. But this is not a play. Ichiru can't help but feel anger at the moon. And yet, he sees Zero's face so much more clearly. The lines, the dark circles, the scratches, caked with dried blood. The resignation on his brother's face, equal to his own. The same shape, the same size, their hands. They should be the same. They should be one. One, resigned, scarred but whole, bitter but still grasping onto straws of hope.

Ichiru has hated his brother. Resented him, loathed him, envied him, despised him, and he is quite sure that his brother has felt the same way about him. Yet throughout everything, Ichiru has wanted, still wants, Zero to achieve and be everything that he himself can never do, will never even get the chance to hear about. And now, finally, Ichiru can rescue his brother from powerlessness. He can finally help instead of just lie there.

Forearms follow hands. Foreheads next. The angle of the flame makes them bathed in a half-light. It no longer matters to Ichiru as he closes his eyes and breathes in everything. The scent of the night, of Zero in front of him. The sharp moving air caressing his torn body. The floor beneath his feet. His brother's skin upon his own. The sound of the building settling and the walls creaking among the deep quiet. The tears begin to flow down his cheeks involuntarily. He doesn't want to go, no matter what it means for his brother. Selfishly, he wants to stay, to live, even if it's just for a few days, hours more. But time is so short, spares no one, that he knows he will never compete with it. Every minute more for him is a minute less for Zero.

And now he is in his brother's arms, wrapped tightly, just like when they were young children, telling scary stories late at night when they were supposed to be sleeping, Ichiru feverish and shivering and Zero wrapping a blanket around the both of them. Things were so simple back then. If only they could have had more time together...

No. They would be spending an eternity entwined. Just hearing Zero's heart beat against his own chest makes Ichiru cry harder. He sobs into his brother's shoulder. No, he must not go out of this world the way he came into it, sobbing weakly. He owes it to his parents, to Shizuka, to Zero, to leave with some semblance of a shred of dignity.

Ichiru lifts his head slowly, looks Zero in the eyes again, and slowly nods.

The fangs hit his neck quickly, and he has no time to scream before everything goes black around him.

**Author's Note:**

> originally published on fanfiction.net (7/19/12)
> 
> Music: "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance


End file.
